City Council Bans Freestanding Donation Bins

Friday, October 7th, 2022

The City of Dalton will no longer permit donation bins for clothing or other items to be set up at freestanding locations within the City. Existing bins must be removed by the time their current permits expire.

The City of Dalton approved a new ordinance governing donation bins in 2019 that required owners of the bins to be licensed by the City and to maintain the sites to keep them clean. But after repeated problems with the bins being unsupervised and left in unsightly condition, with the bins overflowing onto the surrounding ground or even being surrounded by trash and debris that is not allowed to be placed in the bins, the decision was made to repeal that ordinance and ban the bins. Six bins are currently permitted in Dalton and their permits run for a two year period that will be ending in most cases in the summer of 2023. The new ordinance does require that the existing bins be maintained in compliance with the City's previous rules for donation bins while they remain in the City. 

This change does not affect residents' ability to leave donations of clothing or food at the sites of thrift stores or charities. It only impacts those charities' abilities to leave a bin at a separate commercial location for the dropoff of donations. Charities can also set up donation sites at other commercial businesses, but these sites would have to be maintained inside of these businesses.